Karen's Karegivers

Jim Traxler
North Ridgeville, OH

About my Fundraiser

I thought it would be a nice Valentine's Day present for Karen if we could raise a small amount of money for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. As most of you know, this is the condition that has affected Karen/Mom/Grammy with the primary symptom being Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia, meaning that she is for the most part unable to put her thoughts into words. Fortunately she can still sing perfectly in choirs and can read aloud passages from books, so physically her speech is fine, just not the formulation of thoughts into words. She also loves to read and watch movies and TV.

Her smile is still so very sweet and she laughs at my jokes! People love having her around, even if she doesn't converse with them. We are currently utilizing music therapy to see if her undamaged musical facility can help train another part of her brain to pick up the speech formulation function.

We still enjoy life to the fullest, living in a Del Webb Active Adult Community (Pioneer Ridge in North Ridgeville, Ohio) with lots of social and educational activities. We also love to travel and plan to go on a Scandinavian cruise this summer. She is of pure Swedish descent, so it will be a return to her ancestors' homeland.

Why raise money for AFTD? I feel that FTD is a neglected disease because its occurrence is much rarer than Alzheimer's Disease, which gets all the attention and legislative focus. FTD requires quite different testing and ultimately probably a different treatment and cure. Alzheimer's deserves all the attention it gets, but FTD should also benefit from clinical and government focus.

I have set a very modest goal of $500 and will personally make up any shortfall of that goal. It would be wonderful if we could exceed the goal. So whatever you can give will be greatly appreciated, and I will be able to give Karen a Valentine's Day card which tells her, "All these people love you enough to make a gift in your honor." Sincerely, Jim Traxler